Many people read the Bible in an effort to understand their
life; to find answers to their questions about life and perhaps the problems
they are facing. Ancient holy books,
like the Torah and the Bible, have been considered not only history books by
their readers, but also guidebooks to life and how to live it. They are instruction books to life and
encourage the reader to remember that God is the one in control and that to
revere God is the beginning of wisdom (Journey).
In the Hebrew Bible, there is a section of writings that
are considered wisdom literature. They are Proverbs, the Book of Job, and
Ecclesiastes. All three writings try to
tell the reader how he/she should live their life. Proverbs is a book of
writings credited to Solomon. It is essentially an anthology of sayings and
poems that make observations about life or instruct the reader in the forms of
advice and admonitions (Journey). Proverbs
gives dual choices that are rather black and white to deal with most issues that
come up in life. The dualistic nature of proverbs is evident not only in their
meaning, but also in their structure, where wisdom and folly are often contrasted
within the same short sentence: “Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but
those who are slow to anger calm contention” (Proverbs 15:18). The wise person follows the wise choice, and
the fool goes astray. Not only is choice
in life simplified to two choices for every question, but it suggested that
divine justice is always served. The wise
person is rewarded and the fool is punished; therefore, be wise (choose
rightly): “Therefore walk in the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the
just. For the upright will abide in the land, and the innocent will remain in
it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be
roosted out of it” (Proverbs 2:20-20).
Proverbs gives the reader the sense that God is control of
all things and that the meaning of life is to be good, choose wisely, and you
will be rewarded. The flip side of the idea is that any wrong against you will
be meted out in punishment of the fool. The wisdom to some might give the idea that if
they do good deeds, they will always be rewarded; but one of the main concepts
that is strung through Proverbs is that reverence of God is of the most
importance. Without that you have no wisdom (Journey). The other wisdom
writings, the book of Job and Ecclesiastes, are not as optimistic about life
and divine justice.
The Book of Job is a writing that is structured as a poetic
drama enveloped within a folk tale. This book might ultimately tell the reader
to have faith in God, no matter what, because the reader cannot possibly
understand the ways of God. Either God’s ways are outside comprehension or we
are simply unable to know or understand all the facts. The story is roughly an
account of what a righteous man, Job, is put through because God took up a
wager with one of his court, the accuser. The accuser, or Satan, suggested that
Job was only thankful and reverent to God because he had abundance in life. He
wagered that if Job was afflicted, he would no longer remain so pious. So,
taking Satan’s bet, God allowed Satan to afflict Job and bring suffering upon
him in rapid succession. Job knows that
he has been wise and good and is perplexed with his sudden calamity. He knows
that he is righteous, yet his suffering went against divine justice. He essentially asks, “why me?” while
lamenting.
Many people throughout the ages and into the future have
and will identify with Job, asking the same, “why me?” when finding themselves
in what they perceive as unjust situations. Stricken with cancer even though
you lived a healthy life? You may ask, “why me?” Lost your job even though you
were an exemplary employee? Again, “why me?” The Book of Job tries to explain
to the reader that not only can we not begin to understand God, but that also,
humanity is not the center of the universe. Human justice is not necessarily of
God’s concern, but our own (Journey). It does give a bit of reflection to the
idea of the righteous being rewarded, however, as Job is rewarded doubly after
passing this test of his love for God. It gives hope to the sufferer that the
reward will come as long as he/she is faithful and patient. Again, we hear the idea that wisdom begins
with reverence for God.
Ecclesiastes is yet another writing in the wisdom
literature. It is perhaps less optimistic than Job in that it writes off life
as essentially meaningless and the pursuit for wisdom is futile. There is no
divine justice as it seems the wicked and the good both die in the end and in
life the wicked are often treated well, and the good treated wickedly (Journey
and Ecclesiastes). This writing is also attributed to Solomon, but may have
been written by an old sage (perhaps an old disillusioned Solomon?). It gives
the idea to the reader that it is best not to question the way of the world or
the ways of God, as god is inscrutable and all else is vanity and emptiness. It
suggests to the reader to essentially, eat drink and be merry, for life in this
world is short, so enjoy it as it comes, moment by moment (Journey).
It doesn’t remove the reader from God, but basically
reiterates the idea from Job that one should have faith in God that all is as
it should be, and that he/she cannot possibly fathom the reasons. It suggests
that we should try to find the good in every situation – for how else can one
enjoy life moment by moment unless he/she looks for the good in that moment? It
gives the reader the sense to persevere, not because we will be rewarded like
Job, but because we can’t completely understand what God may be up to. The book
finishes with a touch that may have been added by an editor to reign in the
work to include God and retribution a bit more: “The end of the matter; all has
been heard, fear God, and keep his commandments, for that is the whole duty of
everyone. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret
thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Again we hear the echo of
the reverence of God being the beginning of wisdom.
Written 12/5/11 for my Intro to Biblical Literature class
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